But this time, over the next 20 or so minutes, Perkins was testing his left ankle, the one he sprained in the final five minutes of Friday's game against Portland.

Had Perkins not passed the test, had his ankle been slightly too tender, the Thunder would have been faced with the possibility of having to start Hasheem Thabeet at center.

The worst nightmare of many a Thunder fan would have come to fruition just three games into the season.

But that's the state of the Thunder's center position. For as polarizing as Cole Aldrich was, his inclusion in the James Harden trade left the Thunder terribly thin in the middle. Now, as the Thunder tries to navigate its way back to the Finals all of Oklahoma can only hope that an injury-riddled Perkins holds up. If he doesn't, the Thunder's titles hopes might go down with him.

Perkins is that significant, and the Thunder's depth behind him is that squishy.